1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the game ball family of inventions, particularly to those having a shape similar to the ball used in American football. American football is a popular game in many parts of the world. The ball used in football was derived from the ball used in the European game of Rugby. The football evolved into a smaller and more pointed version of a Rugby ball. A variety of non-traditional football designs have developed which depart from the traditional or official size, weight and materials of footballs used in organized competitions. These non-traditional designs appeal to players of all ages. Many non-traditional balls are softer, lighter, safer, easier to grip, catch and throw, and some have different flight characteristics than the footballs used in official competitions. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,133,550 and U.S. Pat. Re. No. 33,449 are examples of non-traditional foam footballs.
This invention also relates to the beverage insulator family of inventions. These inventions are also called insulating holders, beverage jackets, cozies, or coolers. Numerous beverage insulators have been developed and marketed. Many insulators are designed to keep canned or bottled beverages cold, hot beverages hot, and to keep the user's hand from coming in direct contact with condensation, which may form on the outside of cold containers. These beverage insulators have been made of styrofoam, vinyl, polyurethane, foamed polystyrene, other plastics or insulating material. The products have evolved to include designs which have been modified to include lids, latches, handles, clips, carrying straps and pockets. Some designs are adaptable to holding different sizes and shapes of containers. This is accomplished by means such as elastic inserts, stretchable foams, slits and different wrapping and fastening techniques. Some beverage insulators are reusable while others are disposable. Some are collapsible and/or foldable for storage purposes. There are various means of attaching such modifications and various means of producing the product. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,282,279; 4,746,028; 4,583,577; 4,510,665; 4,478,265; and 4,462,444 are examples.
Closely related to beverage insulators are insulated vacuum bottles, and insulated drinking containers, such as double walled coffee mugs. There are also warming devices, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,517,445 and 4,825,757.
This invention also relates to cooling devices. U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,303, Beverage Container Cooler, Kelly, discusses a cooling device of flexible foam with numerous distinct cavities adjacent to the cooling surface. The cavities are filled with a cooling fluid. U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,999, Insulated Container Having a Three-Dimensional Exterior Caricature, discusses a puppet which has a recess for receiving a beverage container. The puppet is insulated or has a chilled gel therein to cool the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,284, Liquid Container Novelty, Witt, reveals a container novelty in a predetermined shape. The claims of this patent revealed a football shaped container, with a rigid shell, having complementary interlocking edge portion and said shell having an inturned integrally formed flange portion. The container has a body, neck and cap. Patents D308,320 and D251,284 revealed a football shaped lunch-box and D248,105 a football shaped display container.
None of the inventions mentioned above involve a combination football shaped throwing toy and insulating device, football shaped throwing toy and container, football shaped throwing toy and warming device, or football shaped throwing toy and cooling device. These are objects of this invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,922, Combination Drink Cooler and Throwing Toy, McMahon, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,709, Beverage Insulating Flight Cylinder, Johnson, combine beverage insulators and flight toys. U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,922 is a cylinder device, open at both ends. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,709 is a straight, hollow and longitudinally balanced cylinder, open at both ends, having a leading/lower end and a trailing/upper end comprised of soft cellular copolymer. However, unlike this invention, these patents are not football shaped.